Patna: Both up and down railway tracks at the site of the derailment of North East Express at Buxar was restored on Friday and Patna-DDU Express was the first train to ply on the Delhi-bound up line, a senior railway official said.
The up line was restored at 8.10 am and the train crossed the site at 10.09 am on Friday, two days after the accident, under the supervision of senior railway officials, the Eastern railway official said. A goods train was the first to move on the restored down line at 5.12 pm after the track was restored at around 1 pm, he said.
Limited movement of trains are being allowed on the two tracks under the supervision of senior railway officers, said Eastern Railway chief public relations officer Birendra Kumar. "Normal movement of trains will be allowed on this route in a day or two ... We are allowing only limited movement of trains on the up and down tracks as per the standard operating procedure," Kumar told PTI.
Four people were killed and several others were injured after 23 coaches of North East Express derailed near Raghunathpur railway station in Buxar district of Bihar around 9.53 pm on Wednesday on way to Assam from Delhi. Most of the injured are undergoing treatment in Buxar town and neighbouring Ara. A total 25 people have been admitted to AIIMS Patna.
Of the 25 hospitalised at AIIMS nine have been discharged while the rest are still being treated there. "No one is in critical condition," AIIMS Patna Executive Director Dr Gopal Krushna Pal said. Indian Railways on Thursday announced Rs 10 lakh compensation for the next of kin of the dead in the derailment and Rs 50,000 for the injured. The Bihar government too announced ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the next of kin of the dead. The railways ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. Initial investigation found that the derailment was possibly caused due to fault in the tracks.
